Haze
by Juulna
Summary: Serious but cliche A/B/O Reylux fic! y is stranded. e planet is completely void of sentient life, so she really, truly is stranded completely..3..except for Kylo and Hux themselves. 4.Oh, and she's an omega whose suppressants are about to wear off (let's run this cliche train into the ground, eh?)5.OH, and Kylo and Hux are an alpha pair, and they want Rey.-Good luck, Rey.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: So... this first chapter was originally written/completed in November of 2016. I'd been trying to gear up for the SW Polyamory Big Bang, but issues with my husband and a heavy physical toll from work prevented me from completing this story.**

 **But now that I've just left, I'm posting all this old stuff I felt I couldn't before (and had in fact agreed not to repost them when they were hacked). So yay! I'm glad to be posting this. I feel such an ENERGY and excitement for writing and a general joie de vivre. It's wonderful.**

 **So yep, here's a new fic. And I do plan on finishing this. It's already been talked into the ground for ideas surrounding the premise and plot of this fic - four hours nonstop with the lovely IshaRen, whom this is gifted to.**

 **Also, IshaRen? Thanks for being great and just a beautiful and creative and intelligent (and lots of other wonderful things) person. You're amazing. 3**

 **Well, I hope you enjoy! :) Take care, everyone. Off I go to get some caffeine injected into my blood, then to driving for 12 hours! Well, maybe 10. Eep.**

 **(And YES - I know there's exposition. You try writing consensual, world-building A/B/O. It's harder than you think!)**

* * *

It happened in a matter of seconds.

One moment Rey was on a pre-programmed hyperspace course, returning from her latest mission, and the next moment her small X-wing made an _awful_ noise, plunging her out of the blue of hyperspace and into the star-studded blackness of regular space.

Everything else happened in quick succession after that.

As her vessel started to veer uncontrollably, Rey had only just enough time to realize that there was a high likelihood that she would soon be becoming one with the Force― _if_ she were so lucky.

One engine was completely dead and the other was stuck in full thrust. She couldn't disengage it; all she could do was sit back and watch as her vessel careened towards an unknown blue and green planet.

She didn't know its name. She had no idea where she was.

Rey tried to reach out through the Force towards her Master, Luke, but she must have been too far away for him to hear her through their still-tentative connection, try as she might.

That left her with only one option.

As soon as she entered the atmosphere, Rey hit the eject button.

She held tightly to the cords of the parachute with one hand, the other resting on the lightsaber attached to her belt as if she were worried it would be whisked away in the descent. Her eyes watched with horror as her X-wing hurtled towards the ground, and she drew in a gasp, eyes widened, as it exploded into flames, dust pluming outwards, as it made contact.

Rey sighed, but set her jaw. Just because she didn't know where she was, what this planet was called or what it was like, and just because she didn't have anything on her except a small kit and her saber… just because of that and so much more, it didn't mean that she wouldn't be able to survive here until help came along.

She'd survived worse before; and had waited much longer on Jakku without ever giving up hope.

 _Someone_ would come for her.

* * *

Armitage Hux woke to an empty bed. His lips turned down into a frown as he stretched and propped himself onto his elbows, sheets pooling down to his lap. This wasn't what he had expected when he and Kylo had made plans to steal away for a week.

Well, he supposed it was a little bit of a stretch to expect to stay in bed every moment of every day.

With a sigh, he pulled himself out of bed, pushing his mussed hair out of his face, and padded naked through the cottage as he followed the scent of his alpha lover. It wasn't something most people would pick up, but another alpha, like he was, and one so in tune with the other… he had no trouble discerning the scent from the crisp freshness of the early evening air being pulled in through the open windows.

He and Kylo had left the _Finalizer_ in the care of Captain Phasma's capable hands, the only other person who knew of their dirty little secret. As a female alpha, Phasma understood what it felt like to be part of a forbidden romance, except she couldn't escape her fate. Everyone knew she was sterile, and society had dubbed her kind off-limits, even with their ability to assist with heats, simply because they couldn't procreate.

Well, he and Kylo couldn't procreate either, but at least it was easier to hide what they were: male alphas involved with each other. In public they were simply seen as unattached alpha males, too busy with work and their ambitions of power to have mated and paired off with an omega or beta.

That suited them just fine.

Making a mental note to purchase a gift for their co-commander, Hux pushed the thoughts aside as he finally entered the room in which his lover had stationed himself.

Wrapping his arms around the other man's waist as he stood still before a large window, fingers trailing over the waistband of the sleep pants Kylo had obviously thrown on, Hux nipped at the shoulder blade in front of him and then murmured into his skin, "We've only been here a single night and day, and already I've chased you from my arms, huh Kylo?"

The other man said nothing, simply continuing to stare out at the wild valley before their eyes as he let in and out continuous deep breaths. He wasn't tense, but there was a certain aura of readiness to the man that Hux had hoped he wouldn't see on this escape from their normal duties.

Hux sighed and rubbed his cheek against the man's smooth and lightly freckled back, marking the other man consciously for the first time in months―something he had to be careful of in public.

If anyone knew, if anyone found out, they would never have the respect of their subordinates―at least, not in the way they had worked so hard to obtain. For over five years they had been together, and it was all made possible by their careful planning… and the occasional _accident_ when needs must.

"What's wrong?" Hux asked softly. He knew his lover, and this silence when they had _so_ been looking forward to their time away was unusual and disconcerting.

Kylo shook his head slightly and let his most recent breath of air out in a quiet huff. "Someone's here," he murmured, and only Hux's excellent hearing saved him from missing what the other man said.

"There's no one here. This cabin is the only damn habitation on this planet," Hux replied impatiently.

"That's not what I mean, Taj―don't be a condescending _ass_ ," Kylo growled as he spun around and gripped the redhead's jaw between both large hands.

Hux growled up at him from his slightly shorter position, baring his teeth and letting Kylo know exactly how he felt about his use of dominance tactics. "Well, explain yourself better next time, and I won't _have_ to be a 'condescending ass' to get an answer out of you!" he gritted out as he pulled his face from the now-lax grip.

Kylo turned around abruptly to stare once more out the window at the darkening sky. "Get dressed and help me put together a few supplies. We're going out," he ordered absently.

Hux glared at the back of his head. "And why would we be doing that?"

Kylo's hand lifted to rub at his face―at the scar that bisected his eye and cheekbone, Hux realized with suspicion.

The suspicion coalesced completely with Kylo's next words: "Because _she's_ here."

Hux knew exactly who _she_ was. She was the one who had helped destroy _Starkiller_ over a year ago; the one whom Kylo had nearly lost his life to… the one whom Kylo had been steadily obsessing over since the day he saw her in person―and longer than that, even, in Force visions and dreams Kylo'd had long before he even knew who she was. Long before he'd ever laid eyes on her.

Hux knew who _she_ was:

The one who pretended at being a beta; whose anger had let through the smallest whiff of her true nature.

The little omega Jedi girl, _Rey_ , who was a threat to the First Order... and to his relationship.

Much as he might dream of her, as well.

* * *

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck kriffing fucking― _arrrgh_!" Rey's rant ended with an unintelligible scream as she threw her flight helmet at the pile of twisted wreckage that had once been her X-wing. She'd only been there half the day and she already knew she was in trouble after having searched through every last piece of the burned fuselage.

There was nothing she could salvage.

No food, no radio, no water packets, no extra clothes… not even the fuselage was in good enough shape to be used as a shelter.

But the worst of it all was that none of her personal belongings had survived the quick flash and burn. She could survive on her own practically anywhere―and this lush paradise was leaps and bounds more hospitable than Jakku had been―but she had _never_ before been without her suppressants. She had never missed a dose. Rey was due for her latest self-injection, one that would last her months and allow her to pass as a beta by way of her affected and learned mannerisms. Ever since she had presented at puberty, she had never been without. If she were in need of food and suppressants, and could only afford one, she always bought the suppressant first, from the elderly ladies of the village.

They had warned her exactly what would happen to a young, female omega such as herself if she were to be found out. There were people who hunted _specifically_ for her kind, on places _specifically_ like Jakku, where the arm of law of the Republic would never right the evils which those slavers perpetrated. All to catch omegas. To catch and enslave and fuck and breed them as nothing more than chattel.

So she had vowed no one would _ever_ find out, secluding herself in the open desert as an added protective measure and coming into town only when absolutely necessary to her survival.

Not even Luke knew. Not even Leia, or Finn, or Poe.

Only Dr. Kalonia had ever found out, and Rey had sworn her to secrecy even within her own department. Rey had pleaded with the woman to mark her as a beta in her files and to keep her lips sealed, and the older woman had complied with an understanding and sympathy that Rey had been too relieved over for her to be upset at the pity she'd noted in Kalonia's eyes.

And now here she was with her smuggled medication burnt to a crisp, and nowhere to purchase any more. She doubted there were any villages nearby― _if_ there were even any sentient species on this backwater planet.

Rey sighed and folded her legs beneath her in a meditative pose as she sunk to the ground in defeat. Temporary defeat, she told herself. She may as well pull together as much calmness as she was able to hold onto, for as long as she would have to remain here until someone came and found her.

She needed as much calm and peace as she could get. She'd never experienced a true, full heat before in her life, but had heard enough horror stories over the years to know that she was in for a trip as soon as she crossed paths with an alpha― _any_ alpha―during her inevitable heat. She was sure that the Resistance would send out pilots to search for her… and the vast majority of their top recon pilots were alphas. She knew that she would enter heat soon after her suppressants wore off. Having suppressed her heats for so long, her body would jump into heat very soon afterwards to correct itself, rather than on a schedule of every few months like unsuppressed omegas, mated or unmated. She would simmer, oh so _slowly_ worsening, for months if that's what it took until she caught the scent of an alpha, and then… And then her heat would kick into high gear and there would be no way out of it except through natural heat and rut… or indescribable pain, fever, loss of bodily and mental control, and even the possibility of death if she were to use a replacement method. And as a Force user, that loss of control could mean death to those around her as well.

Once the beginnings of her heat started, there was no way to reverse the effects, even if she took suppressants once more. As soon as that heat started to simmer… there was no way past it except to follow through with an alpha or chemical aids―and she could admit to herself that she feared death.

Didn't everyone?

Yet Rey wasn't sure which would be worse. Giving in to an alpha―to anyone, really―for the first time… or the pain and death that could very well await her, and others, if she refused and opted for option two. Or if she pretended her problem didn't exist with option three.

That was all supposing she didn't die alone on this planet from her heat, unable to satisfy her biological nature― _curse_ ―with or without a flesh and blood alpha, man or woman. If she had none of that, her chances of living past a year alone were next to nothing. So infinitesimal that it barely even counted as a viable statistic.

But…if all of that went her way… even if her full heat occurred, she could isolate herself far away from others so as to mitigate the damage done through the Force, and work her own body over with heat aids and chemical hormones, and meditation could―

No. Best not borrow trouble. There was still _time_. There was still a chance.

Shunting that quandary to the side for the moment, Rey breathed in, held her breath for ten counts, and then slowly released the held air to the count of five. In… out… in… _out…_

* * *

She'd been walking for hours now, marking her path from the crash site in the event that she needed to retrace her steps. She wanted to get a feel for the land around her, to see if there was any food that she could find, or a source of fresh water―which she'd actually found plenty of both―but the light was starting to fade and she had no idea what sorts of predators were native to this planet.

One thing was for sure, though: she hadn't spotted any signs of sentient life. No signs of any type of intelligent society. If there had been, she might have been able to find shelter and food, and even a transponder that could have allowed her to contact the Resistance.

If there had been a village of any sort, she might have been able to find some suppressants.

She would need them desperately, and soon. If the Resistance found her within the next three days, there was a good chance she might be able to get to suppressants before she went into even the early stages of heat.

Yet that was looking increasingly unlikely to the logical part of her brain. It would be at least another day before they realized she was too late in arriving for it to be a simple hold-up keeping her from getting there.

No, they very likely wouldn't arrive on time.

Rey cursed inwardly.

She would be safe enough, able to control her destiny, if she kept to herself, if she refused to get within scenting distance of anyone who came to find her. Perhaps she could manage to shout out her demand for a beta or another omega to be sent for, if an alpha was the one who landed first―she didn't want to cause any mayhem to erupt like she'd seen happen on Jakku when… no. She didn't want that at all.

If she could manage all that, with her heat suppressed enough by not engaging an alpha, she could then be flown to the base, an alpha that she trusted sent for―or toys and chemicals, if she so chose―and then she could go through her heat in privacy. Her secret would be out, but that would be better than any of the other options. Even then, the knowledge might be possible to contain, depending on who found her, and she might be able to keep her secret with only a small few knowing what she truly is.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan, even if she chose the option of finally giving herself for the first time to someone in a situation that was less than ideal. But… it was better than the other options; at least as far as it stood currently. She would make the best of a bad situation―she always had.

With a renewed lift to her steps, Rey continued on her way back to the site of the crash, belly filled with water and freshly-picked berries, her helmet holding even more of the latter.

* * *

She arrived after full dark, the sun having long since set behind the surrounding mountains, and promptly dropped her weary body into a meditative position. She calmed herself down, slowing her breathing and concentrating on relaxing her body a muscle at a time, until her mind was free and clear, drifting from no particular thought to another.

Once she was in the right state of mind, Rey cast her thoughts out by way of the Force. It wasn't something Luke had spent very much time on with her, but he had taught her just enough so that she could find him if she got lost, or find other life forms around her.

She immediately knew she was nowhere near close enough to Luke for her to be able to reach out to him.

But that wasn't the important thing.

That wasn't the thing that sent Rey scrambling to her feet in shock, eyes darting every which way around her.

No, it was the lack of any other intelligent life on this planet… except for two mental footprints coming closer and closer to her position.

One of which she knew exceedingly well as soon as she brushed up against it.

 _Kylo. Kriffing. Ren._

Rey looked around herself, trying desperately to calm her mind as she took stock of what she had around her, what she could fight with, and whether it would be worth it to run away.

But no, it was too late for any of that. She could finally hear the faint sounds of an approaching spacecraft, and moments later she saw the lights of said craft flying low over the treetops.

It was too late to hide, and she doubted it would do any good in any case―but she _did_ have her lightsaber. Reaching down, she unhooked it, thumbed the switch, and held the blade in a low guard before her so that it wouldn't completely ruin her night vision.

She knew it would be a beacon to Kylo Ren and whoever else was with him, but she also knew she would be found no matter what.

She may as well stand and fight in that case.

As soon as the craft landed, near to her, and the ramp started to open, she knew that she was in a lot worse trouble than she'd originally thought.

In all the furor and mayhem during and after the destruction of _Starkiller_ , she'd all but forgotten that Kylo Ren was an alpha. The last time she'd smelt him, she'd been distracted and suppressed, her sense of smell muted immensely by the drugs. Now, at the end of her suppressants, the air from inside the ship moving towards where she stood downwind… _now_ she remembered.

And whoever else was with him was an alpha as well.

Oh _kriff_.

Her odds weren't looking good at all, and her mind frantically attempted to veer away from the thought of what would happen if… _when_ her heat presented within the next day or two.

Because now her odds of leaving this planet _with_ shackles was much higher than the nil she'd thought it to be before.

It hadn't even crossed her mind.

Suddenly dying looked like a much saner, less compromising, less awful option.

* * *

Her smell was the first thing that hit him. He'd known it was her, from the moment she had entered the atmosphere in such a sudden and panicked fashion that the Force had practically quivered and danced at her presence.

But now, with her scent filling his lungs as he pulled in deep breaths of air, he knew for _sure_ that it was her. It was the same scent that had plagued Kylo for days after _Starkiller_ had gone up in flames. At first it had meant failure to him, and he'd punished himself by remembering her; remembering her scent as it had swirled around him in the snow of the decomposing planet, her form standing over him lit by the blue of his grandfather's saber.

Yet another mark against him. Another mark of his failure.

But… in the weeks and months that came afterward, even as the scent had faded from his sensory memory, even as he and Hux had fallen back into each other's arms upon his return from the completion of his training beneath Snoke… the memory of her had become an obsession.

It didn't take him much longer after that to realize that they were connected through the Force, flimsy as that tether might be between them. What he had thought was an inability to rid his mind of her, was in actual fact a link to her mind, sitting unobtrusively and quietly in the depths of his mind.

Hux… well, Hux had been none too pleased. The general had found himself vying for his lover's attention with the specter of a girl whom he hadn't even met. Kylo had reassured him that this was not the same―that Hux would always be _his_ in a way that he had no intention of Rey ever becoming.

But then… then he began to speak of the things he had seen in her mind, in that one, fraught glimpse he had had of her before she'd pushed back into _his_ mind, forging the link that bound them… That was when everything began to change again.

That was when he began to feel a hunger, a yearning… and Hux fell in alongside him, sharing the crystal-clear visions as Kylo pressed their foreheads together in the sweat-ridden sheets of whoever's bed they were in on that particular evening. They began to _want_ , to _yearn_ , to _know_ this woman who was supposed to be their enemy. This woman… this woman who could complete them; who had the passion and strength to withstand their own force of personality… an omega to finally tie them together, and them to her.

And they both wanted her, no matter how wrong it was. Oh yes, they _both_ did, however disgruntled Taj might be…

Her smell was the first thing that hit him once the shuttle ramp lowered. It permeated the air of the clearing, even with the breeze drifting away from them. But there was something wrong with it. Something Kylo had _known_ was wrong with it, but hadn't bothered him until he smelled it once again, here, _now_.

How _dare_ she cover up that beautiful, luscious, wonderful omega smell? Who was she protecting herself from, that she had to hide who she was?

No, Kylo knew. Hux knew. As they looked at each other, standing at the top of the ramp, Kylo knew they were both thinking of the memories they had seen, and shared, from Rey's mind. Oh, no, they knew _exactly_ why she hid herself.

It didn't lessen the fact that her smell now sat heavily in their nostrils, roiling their stomachs with everything that it implied. Everything it covered.

Kylo let a smile tug at his lips, and he met Hux's equally-anticipatory gaze with his own―the one Taj would never admit to.

She was _here_.

He had no idea what they would do with her, but the focus of their attentions was before them―

―and an enemy of the First Order―the sole legacy of the New Jedi Order.

What a _clusterfuck_.

Kylo almost wished she weren't standing right there before them.

This wasn't really the way he'd wanted to get his― _their_ ―hands on her.

Actually, he had no idea _how_ they would have―at all. For all their dreams of having her, they had never truly prepared for it.

He'd improvised far worse situations, he supposed.

Kylo squared his shoulders, brushed his hand against the lightsaber in his holster―but did not release it into his palm―looked at Taj once more to make sure the man was covering him… and stepped down the ramp.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note:** **Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter! The response to this fic's first chapter was tremendous- thank you SO much, all!**

 **I know it's been a while since I dropped the first chapter, but at least it hasn't been a month. ;D It took me a little while to work out some kinks (heh) in the plot/biology and society of this omegaverse. It decided to fight back! But I'm happy with what I ended up with. :) This fic should have five chapters total, so it's not too long, but we'll see how it goes haha.**

 **Thank you Annaelle for the speedy and very-insightful beta (you keep me on my toes and make me better, luv). I've been working her overtime what with this, and my Mitzvah (reylo) update yesterday, a new Harry Potter ss/hg oneshot, and with War (reylo). She's going to be driven nuts with my writing fever, I swear. xoxo**

 **All the best.**

* * *

Rey stared forlornly across the room to where she knew her lightsaber had been placed. She'd seen him put it inside the desk drawer not too long ago, before both men had double-checked the cuffs on her wrists.

 _Him_.

Kylo Ren.

She glared at the man, and he glared right back.

Kylo _fucking_ Ren.

Her eyes darted towards the man leaning against the arm of the chair Kylo was sitting in, and she scowled at the curious look he was giving her.

" _What_?" she snapped out.

They simply stared back at her, and that frustrated her all the more. "Seriously, _what_? Why are you just staring at me? You've got me where you want me," she pointedly ignored the shift in their expressions, "you have me shackled to a damn headboard that's built into the wall, and I can't even use the Force with these… these _things_." She choked on the last. Since gaining access to the Force, she had never been unable to touch it, and it _hurt_. It felt like something had been ripped out of her, and the edges of the hole where her connection to the Force had been were jagged and raw.

It made her want to scream and cry in pain, and she would do so _much_ to not have these things on her ever again in her life.

Except, well…

Rey closed her eyes tightly in an effort to control her breathing; to not let them see how affected she was by the cuffs that Kylo had slapped on her as soon as he'd disarmed her.

She was likely going to be wearing these things for a _long_ time to come, until they either executed her or she found a way to escape. Or—she shuddered—until they broke her.

She would rather _die_.

Suddenly sensing movement in front of her, Rey snapped her eyes open and was met with the black wool of a military jacket. She looked up, further—

The redhead—General Hux, she recalled, and her anger intensified—was standing before her with a medkit. He met her eyes briefly, staring into hers, and then slowly sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. He turned himself to face her but kept a reasonable amount of distance between them, and his expression was carefully blank.

But she could _smell_ him. He was agitated, on edge, and his alpha scent was sharp as it reached her nostrils. She reflexively inhaled, her instincts making her scent the man beside her. He smelled like… like… she scrunched her nose. She couldn't quite place what it was, but it smelled like something that had been roasted in a fire, and it wasn't unpleasant.

His lips twitched upwards minutely before he schooled his expression once again. Yet he didn't say a word—

"What do you want?" Rey growled, mostly mad at him, but also mad at herself for giving into her instincts to scent him.

He hummed thoughtfully and then tilted his head at her, exposing his neck very slightly to her view.

Rey gasped—that wasn't something alphas like him would _ever_ do. Especially not if they were from the First Order. Even alphas in the Resistance never did that, and she'd been around so many… they would never expose even the smallest bit of their neck to an unattached beta, let alone an omega.

It was, it was—

"I want to help, little omega," he finally spoke. It was the first time she had heard him say a word to her—in person, that is; she had heard his speech via the holovids many times—and his voice was… it was far softer than she expected.

She glared at him suspiciously, and she knew that her features had taken on a mulish, stubborn cast. "Why would you want to help _me_?"

She wasn't even remotely surprised that they'd picked up on her true scent. She had been scared, stressed, and angry during their fight, and had exerted herself considerably in her efforts to get away—all actions and emotions that were prone to making a person's scent well up even more potently than normal.

It had been bound to come out at some point, she supposed. As soon as she'd seen that her suppressants had burned… yes, it was definitely bound to come out.

Hux looked at her thoughtfully, his chin still slightly tilted up… Rey looked away before he could catch her staring at his pulse.

 _He was trying to calm her_ , she realized suddenly, and her eyes went wide. It was something alphas only ever did for their bonded partners or those they were interested in, and Rey was shocked. He wasn't a beta who calmed those around them instinctively. He was an alpha, through and through, and he must be doing it subconsciously.

Kylo groaned from across the room, and Rey's eyes darted towards his form. "Please _stop resisting_ ," he grumbled, just loud enough for her to hear. "Your scent is deep, _Jedi_. He's trying to calm you so you won't keep driving us mad with your distress."

Rey tried to stand suddenly, and had to remember at the last moment that her hands were bound to the headboard. She ended up standing with her hands awkwardly to the side, but she felt much better as anger coursed through her again. "Well whose fault is _that_ , Jedi Killer?" she growled right back at him.

Kylo was on his feet now, striding across the room in four large steps until he stood in front of her, teeth bared in a snarl.

Suddenly the redhead was between her and her nemesis, snarling in response to Kylo's outburst. He placed a hand on the taller man's chest and shoved him backwards, making him stumble slightly. Kylo glared at her from over the other man's shoulder, and then he was gone from the room, leaving nothing but his scent behind.

It was wild, like coffee mixed with wild grass, but overlaid on top of that was… something fire-roasted.

Rey narrowed her eyes, slowly turning her head from the doorway the dark-garbed man had escaped through to the man whose scent was marked all over the Force user.

They were _lovers_.

Rey knew the First Order had classified same-designation pairings between alphas, and between omegas, as illegal. What were arguably the two most powerful men in the First Order doing flouting the laws that their organization stood firmly against?

…did anyone else know?

Perhaps that was her way out. She hadn't stopped herself from resorting to blackmail in the past, and those incidents had been far less life-threatening to her—or to the galaxy.

She didn't understand, though… why would they fight for the First Order when they were so against something that was intrinsic to the core of who they were. The Resistance had many alpha pairs, and also omega pairs—sometimes three alphas or three omegas or more instead of the typical alpha-beta-omega or alpha-omega-alpha relationships… Kylo _knew_ this, she was sure. It would have been hard to miss when his own uncle had openly carried on a committed relationship with Mara, another omega, before she died, and his best friend growing up, Poe, had always preferred other alphas. And no one had _cared_.

So… _why_?

Rey's curiosity was now completely piqued.

"That's better," Hux's murmured words broke her slightly out of her thoughts, enough that she could arch a brow at him in question. "Your scent isn't as strong as before," he explained. "Please forgive Ren's lack of manners—he's a complete _boor_ , at times… well, most of the time," he confided conspiratorially.

"As if that's a secret!" Rey barked out in laughter—she couldn't help it. Kylo Ren was just _that_ ridiculous sometimes. _All_ of the time.

Hux smiled softly, and then eyed her once again. "Please, let me treat your wounds… It's just bacta." It was more a command than a request, but a brief flash of Kylo's memories from that fateful day on _Starkiller_ quelled her, and she allowed him to dab bacta carefully onto her cheek, forehead, and collarbone.

She withdrew into herself as he finished, barely noticing him moving to the armchair Kylo had vacated as she was busy analyzing the memory she hadn't ever really focused on before. It was one of many like it, buried deep inside of the thousands of memories she had pulled from Kylo's mind and then closed off within her own.

It had been far too much information to handle before, but now, perhaps, it warranted a second look…

She opened up that part of her that had been locked down tightly and began to sort through the memories, looking for more like the one that showed how happy Hux was at Kylo letting him take care of his wounds.

She quickly got lost.

* * *

The feisty omega had finally drifted off.

Since Kylo had disappeared to Maker knew where, Taj had taken it upon himself to watch over the young woman. She—Rey, he reminded himself—had calmed down considerably after Kylo had left, and he couldn't relate more to that fact than if it had been he himself. Kylo was… well.

He may love the man, but he was _infuriating_ at times.

 _Most_ of the time.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment to think, Taj suppressed a sigh.

He'd thought that she was a threat to his relationship before, but now he wasn't so sure. Seeing the way she'd reacted to Kylo had him smirking to himself, but more than that it had his inner alpha sitting up to take notice.

The one he normally kept a firm hand on. He had always prided himself on his control, and had been able to work around omegas all of his life.

It was disconcerting, to say the _least_ , at how easily his control had started to slip away in her presence.

He blamed her scent—it was intoxicating, like something that reminded him of sunlight and fresh-turned loam—but mostly he blamed _Kylo_.

Everything was always that damn man's fault.

If he hadn't fucking teased Hux with everything he knew about Rey, sharing memories with him and telling him stories, and then bringing up exactly _how_ she liked to touch herself right in the middle of Kylo driving him _wild_ —

Fuck.

Hux tore his thoughts away from all that; at least, he truly tried to stop picturing what she looked and felt like in those memories passed from Kylo to him…

He was driving himself mad, and that wasn't without her even looking at him the way she had earlier.

As if he was good enough to eat.

Hux knew she'd caught his scent—had seen her eyes flutter as she inhaled and tried to parse what she smelled—and even just the memory from his _own_ damn mind was enough to send blood rushing downward.

He hadn't been able to stop himself from baring his neck to her—he knew she'd seen even that small tilt of the chin, but honestly, at this point he expected his usual ironclad control to be in tatters around her.

The way her eyes had darkened in response, though? After she'd gotten over her initial shock? Oh _Maker_ , it had set his blood to boiling.

He groaned softly, and a low chuckle answered him.

He didn't tense, but he did open his eyes to take in the man standing just to the side of the chair. Kylo was looking at the girl's sleeping form on the bed, and Hux could see the way his eyes traced over her features, lingering on the shiny bacta on her skin, and especially on the place where her shirt had rucked up, exposing the skin of her belly between it and her trousers.

Now Hux was staring, too.

 _Stars_ , how they wanted this woman—the only omega they could imagine sharing, and _what_ an omega at that.

Hux cursed the day she crossed their path.

* * *

"You knocked her out, didn't you?" Hux asked him later that evening.

Kylo raised one eyebrow at his partner. "Whatever gave you that impression?" he drawled.

"It's been over six hours since she fell asleep and you've been making enough noise to wake a slumbering bantha," Taj retorted.

Kylo let a small smile play at his lips. "Maybe," he hummed.

Hux rolled his eyes at him—just what Kylo had been trying for. The redhead had been on point all day, watching the sleeping woman without reprieve. Though Kylo had kept away for most of it, he had come and gone enough times that he'd been able to tell that his lover had barely moved.

And for good reason.

She was _fascinating_.

His mind flashed back to when he'd watched her sleep on _Starkiller_ —before she had awoken and caused an impressive amount of havoc, he must admit—trying to understand exactly why the Force had been sending him visions of this girl for so long—he had later found out that he'd seen her in visions before she'd even been _alive_ , and wasn't _that_ an unsettling thought.

The only one who knew that had been Luke, and the man had seemingly never made the connection between the girl in his visions, and Rey—or if he had… Well, that said something, didn't it?

But Luke had known, and now Hux. He trusted the latter more than anything, even when sparks of a negative sort flew between them, and the former was in no position, even after rejoining the Resistance, to give that information to anyone to whom it mattered.

It was only later that he realized she was an omega, and later still that his mind had asked him: _What if_?

 _What if she were meant for him and Taj_?

He had seen her linked to the both of them through varying visions, but they had never been very… clear.

Shaking his head minutely, Kylo pulled himself from his ruminations enough to ask, "What should we do with her?"

Hux was silent for a few minutes, and Kylo let him be. He could tell the man was thinking with that sharp mind of his that he so loved.

"I don't know," he finally murmured.

Well. Maybe not.

Kylo would have teased him, but his mind was running away with him, and it was filled with nothing but serious thoughts.

"The Force…" he began instead, tasting the words as he slowly sounded them out.

"What does the Force say?" Hux prompted him after Kylo fell silent, mulling his words. Taj often made fun of the, in his words, fanatic language surrounding the Force, but he had also seen it in action, including some visions Kylo had had which had come true. He knew when to take it seriously, and now was such a time.

Even if Kylo didn't quite have the right words.

"Kylo?" Hux prompted again.

He shut his eyes, and Hux quieted, letting him think, letting him reach out to the Force for direction. It had been pulling at him all day, ever since he had first picked up the barest hint of her presence, and was growing increasingly frenetic in its attempts to get Kylo to listen to him.

Let it be said that Kylo Ren did not ignore the will of the Force.

He never had.

"She…" he started on a whisper, then licked his lips before continuing, eyes still closed. "The Force wishes us to remain near her, to follow her, to…" he hesitated, shaking his head slightly. "I—just, everything I see is unfamiliar. There are faces I do not know, almost always blurred at the edges, and—and there… _she_ is always there. That is all I can tell for now," he admitted as he released a long breath of air, shoving both hands through his head of hair. "That, and I feel… peace. The Force is at peace when it shows me these images, and yet I do not know exactly what it wants. It is… frustrating."

Hux's hand touched his elbow, and his fiery scent swirled up to calm Kylo's frayed nerves. It was soothing, his man's scent, and he inhaled deeply of it before opening his eyes and pulling the redhead's face into the crook of his neck.

They stayed like that for many minutes, simply breathing in one another and letting their scents combine like they so rarely let them, rubbing cheeks and noses into whatever skin was available to them.

"We'll figure it out," Taj finally murmured. "You know I'll follow you wherever you go. Wherever you need to go. _You_ are the most important thing in my life, now more than ever, above all other concerns."

Kylo tightened his arms around the fierce man he called his own. "And I you," he murmured, closing his eyes again on a sigh.

He knew the girl had been awake for long minutes now, keeping her breath calm and deep—she was _good_ —but he didn't think to mention it to Hux.

It didn't change the fact that every word they'd spoken had been the truth.

 _Good_ , he thought. _Let her hear._

* * *

Rey stopped herself from stiffening at what she heard as it penetrated the fog surrounding her. It wasn't all from sleep; she had worn her mind out with everything that had been passing through it.

And now there was _more_ to think on.

He had been seeing her in Force visions? Or, at least, the Force was speaking to him about _her_?

And she thought she'd been the only one. She had denied it all she wanted, for as long as she had been able to, but right that moment Rey realized that the visions she'd been seeing since a young age… had been of these two men.

The Force had been speaking to her, as well, and she _hadn't listened._

Luke would have been—

She stopped herself from thinking too hard on what Luke would have done or said—that wouldn't truly help her right now. Unfortunately, the abruptness of her thoughts had caused her breaths to start coming unevenly, and she forced herself, finally, to give up the pretense of being asleep.

Except—

Rey panicked, struggling in an attempt to pull herself up and out of her thoughts.

But she couldn't. Everything had begun to swirl around her, fast as can be, and going _faster_. It seemed as though the world was spinning around her, blurring into an incomprehensible smear of colors and sounds. Memories bombarded her from all sides, bleeding into each other more and more until she could barely tell up from down, real from not. She could, on some distant level, recognize the memory she had studied earlier, its emotional imprint warm and pleasant, but the more she tried to hold onto it, the more it slipped through her fingers, like the sands on Jakku.

She distantly heard someone scream, and it wasn't until pain wracked through her body and mind that she realized _she_ was the one screaming, tugging on whatever was holding her arms back desperately in an attempt to clutch at her head, which throbbed and stung like it was on the verge of exploding—

But she found herself incapable of reaching her head— _why couldn't she, why, why, why?_ —to alleviate the pressure building up within her.

And then suddenly, hands were on her head, on her back, soothing her hair from off of her forehead and pulling it back for her, tying it, but she couldn't be sure, at the nape of her neck. At least, it felt like that's what was happening.

She couldn't be sure of anything anymore.

 _Nothing made sense_ , and _everything hurt_.

Everything.

Rey cried out, sobbing. She opened her eyes as wide as they could go but she was incapable of making sense of anything in front of her. All she could see were shapes and colors; nothing was defined or clear or even solid.

Her hearing was gone, too. All she could hear was white noise mixed with a buzzing that was getting louder and louder and—

Her body seized, locking up, agony tearing through her—

She heard a loud hiss, a startled yelp, and suddenly she was being pushed to lay flat, her cheeks were being held between two large hands, and her ankles were suddenly being pinned to the soft mattress and blankets—

Her mind stilled, blissfully clear for a moment where panic rushed over her, and then she was gone again. Simply _gone_. But the fear never left once it settled inside of her.

She couldn't let them—

No.

 _No_!

Rey struggled, screaming and crying as she thrashed, and then she felt darkness welling up deep within her, and—


	3. Chapter 3

Kylo stared at Hux in horror, his hands still gripping Rey's cheeks between his large hands as his one knee pinned her shoulder to the bed. She was out like a light, her body limp beneath his knee and Hux's grip on her ankles, her head lolling between his hands as he slowly released his grip as he finally understood that her skin was hotter to the touch than it should be.

"What the _fuck_ was that, Kylo?" the redhead asked, drawing a deep breath in through his nose, and then—

"Oh. _Shit_."

Kylo leapt back, away from the bed, as if he had been burned, taking one slow step after the other as he backed away from the bed. "Hux, what are you—" His heart was racing, his pulse hammering away in his ears as he felt arousal curl through his gut, but he could barely control _himself_ , let alone control the other alpha.

He watched, eyelids lowering, as Taj moved sinuously up the bed, his lean form all smooth muscle and predatory grace as he crawled over the prone form of the little omega, the complete absence of fight in her setting something inside of him on edge…

" _Armitage!_ " He snapped the alpha's name out, a growl curling around the last syllable and drawing it out, until he was bristling, stepping forward—

Shit.

He took a step back, and then another, until he was standing in the doorway, the breeze from the open windows pushing the scent of _heat_ back.

He watched as Hux shook himself, leaned in to drag his nose against the skin of Rey's neck, inhaled deeply once again, and then shook his head sharply back and forth before throwing himself off of the bed.

He sprawled on the floor, blinking his eyes wide open as if he were trying to wake himself up, and Kylo darted forward, grabbing the back of Hux's jacket and dragging him back and into the living room of the cabin. He pulled the man onto the couch, leaving him there as he went to open up more windows, barely restraining himself from darting back into the room they'd just left.

The cool air gusted through, calming them more than anything else could have in that moment.

More than—

He wrenched his eyes away from the doorway to the bedroom.

Best not to think of that.

"What the _fuck_ was that?" Hux gasped out.

He looked shaken, and that shook Kylo, in turn. There was so very little that shook Hux, and so when it did happen… Kylo was normally the one who couldn't control himself, but in this case he'd gotten lucky. Hux hadn't been prepared, hadn't felt the warning coming in the Force, hadn't been able to _use_ the Force to barricade himself against the storm.

Against the heat.

Against the bloodlust and arousal and the want, the need, the _drive._

He hadn't seen Hux lose control like this since the last time the man had gone into rut… and it was a force to be reckoned with, when a man with such tight control lost it. The control was there for a reason, as Kylo found out for himself.

And Kylo felt his own control slipping, as well, every time he even _thought_ about the little omega.

If they weren't careful—either of them—they would plummet right over the edge and into rut.

And that was one thing that would make this entire situation _worse_ , all three of them losing themselves.

"Heat," Kylo groaned, finally snapping himself out of his thoughts as he threw himself onto the cushions beside Taj.

" _Really_ ," Hux drawled. "I hadn't _gathered_."

Kylo rolled his eyes and then let out a small, delicate snort, grateful that he could finally breathe again and that they were able to control themselves enough to joke.

He didn't like losing control, much as Hux might rib him for his… displays of anger—his words, not Taj's. No, Taj's words were always much worse.

They fell into a deep, comfortable silence, the smell of the trees—pine, cedar, and birch, predominantly—ghosting over them until it wiped away all but the barest hint of _her_.

Finally, Taj broke the silence, as Kylo knew he would. The man could never let a problem rest until it was solved, or proven unsolvable—though Kylo had seen precious little of the latter.

"That was more than a heat."

Kylo slanted him a glance. "Astute as always." He could practically _feel_ the holes being burnt into him by Hux's glare, but he didn't give Hux the satisfaction of reacting. It was more fun like that, and they both needed as much distraction as possible over the next…

 _Shit_. What were they going to _do_?

"Her heat didn't hit until the very end—or, at least, we didn't notice it," he started to explain, slowly, mulling over his choice of words as he went. "Before that… well, from what I could tell, she got stuck in her mind."

A pause. "And, pray tell, what does that mean?"

Kylo made a humming noise as he thought for a moment. "She seemed to be incapable of telling what her memories were, and which were… _mine_ ," he finally said. It had been a very… interesting glimpse into her mind; the little that had made sense, at least. "I don't think she had truly spent much time looking at what she had gleaned from my mind during our last encounter," he mused. "The beginning of what we now know was her heat, coupled with the memories her mind kept cycling through—" He stopped, and smiled gently at Taj before tugging him against his side.

"Well. I would've gotten lost as well," he said as he pressed a kiss into Taj's mussed hair.

Hux groaned but said nothing as he pressed his face into Kylo's chest, breathing the scent of him in—he would often ground himself that way, at least when they had the luxury to do so, and Kylo always relished the moments of privacy that would allow them to partake.

"Why couldn't I control myself?" Hux finally asked. "It's not like I haven't encountered omegas in heat before," he grumbled.

Kylo was silent a moment. "It's her first."

Hux's quickly drawn in breath was his only response to that. But after a moment, he added, "But that can't be the only reason. Stars, we've gone through each other's ruts with more control than that."

Kylo pressed a kiss against the other alpha's forehead as he withdrew himself from the tangle of their limbs upon the couch. Hux was right—they'd seen each other through ruts with more control than this situation heralded. Sure… she was an omega going into heat, not another alpha going into rut… the hormones alone would leave them nearly animalistic, but… "You don't need me to answer that, Taj. You know why." And then he stood.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Kylo looked back and met Taj's eyes. "I have some things I need to do," he replied.

"What about the girl?"

His gaze softened a fraction more. "I trust you," he said simply.

And he did.

* * *

One moment she was awake, the next she wasn't.

There were no in between steps, no sluggish climbing towards consciousness, no dreams drifting slowly into semi-wakefulness and then into awareness. No, one moment there was _nothing_ , and then there was… _everything_.

She had never felt anything like it before, and she wasn't sure if it was bad, or good—just that it was _other_.

It was… much like when she had been awoken to the Force within her. She could smell more, hear more, feel more—everything was just _more_. There was an additional awareness of everything around her that she knew hadn't been there before. It was different than the feeling the Force had given her, of being able to sense the life in things; the energy. No, this was… hm. It was hard to describe, even to herself, but it was as if she were aware of the very air currents around her, where everything was in relation to herself, by scent alone, where everyone was—

Oh.

Her eyes snapped open and she shot straight up in bed, realizing only in passing that there was something odd about being able to wrap her arms around her torso, pressing them tight against her as if she could protect herself, before she shoved the thought clear out of her mind.

She wasn't alone.

Oh, arguably she knew, had been aware even in her sleep, that she hadn't been alone for hours and hours now, but _this_ —

She was vulnerable.

And _not alone_.

She was at the mercy of _predators_ , and her body knew it. Her mind was the only part of her that was slow on the uptake, as it propelled itself forward in an admirable attempt at catching up to what her body, her senses, already knew.

" _Fuck_ ," she bit out vehemently when it finally hit her.

So that's why she'd felt so… aware. Why she felt like her body was thrumming, hot, _alive_.

She was in heat.

"Fuck," she said again, softer this time.

Or, at least, the beginning of her heat. And if this is what it felt like at the _beginning_ …

"I agree," a voice rasped from clear across the room.

Rey jumped, breath hitching, heart nearly in her throat, and she whipped her head around towards the voice.

Only to be faced with _both_ of the predators she was currently stuck with.

Kylo Ren had his arms wrapped around the waist of the slimmer man standing in front of him, hips tugged back against his, and cheek pressed against the crown of red hair. It had been _his_ voice she'd heard, but both of them were looking at her as if she…

Well. They were looking at her rather… hungrily.

Rey shuddered but couldn't pull her eyes away from the two men. Every instinct in her told her not to move, not to lose track of them, not to _blink_ until the danger was past, but, well…

That wasn't going to happen, now was it?

Rey huffed, and brought one hand up to brush a strand of hair from off of her forehead. She paused, hesitating slightly before she darted her eyes quickly to one hand, then the other, and then back to rest on the men. They hadn't moved a muscle.

 _Good_.

"Why are my hands untied?" she asked, slowly enunciating each word. Her tongue felt a little… odd. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but if this is some trick…" She narrowed her eyes at them.

Hux simply tilted his head and Kylo frowned at her. "No trick," he said slowly, and then shoved his nose into his partner's hair, breathing in deeply.

What the—

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Rey was suddenly caught between the desire to curl into a tight ball as close to the wall at her back as possible, to stand up and square her shoulders and show them she wouldn't be _taken_ without a fight, and—

She gulped.

—and the desire to fling herself at them and show them her neck, to let them take her, soothe her, comfort her, slake the thirst in her body and subdue her—

Rey was halfway across the room before the widening of both of their eyes made her pull up short, breaths panting shallowly in her chest as she strained to scent them; to pull their scents into her lungs and _inhale_ them, wrapping her senses around them…

She swayed on her feet, and then sat herself down on the ground, solidly, as quickly as she could. She closed her eyes and placed her head in her hands, propping her elbows on her knees as she wove the strands of her hair between her fingers. She quickly lost herself in the sensation, trying to calm her mind back into some semblance of control.

It was a hard fought battle, but she won.

Barely.

* * *

The alphas kept away, but the damage had been done. Her mind couldn't rest, her body was on fire, and that was from what they could tell within the first _hour_.

As the day grew longer, they knew they had to do _something_ to distract themselves, or else they would have another tally to add to their list of sins.

* * *

Rey slept. She slept a _lot_ that second day.

When she wasn't awake and pacing, she was caught in fever dreams that seemed to wear her out even more than being awake did.

When she was awake and pacing, she was trying desperately to access the Force, to use it, to harness it... but it kept slipping through her grasp, bringing her to angry tears and muffled screams into the pillows on the bed.

She tried to stay awake. She tried to fight it.

And yet, inexorably, her body threw her back into sleep when the toll became too much.

* * *

He could still smell her. He was buried in Kylo, outside, and he could _still fucking smell her_.

Taj growled and sunk his teeth into the other alpha's neck, and the answering snarl and bucking of hips sent his instincts ratcheting even higher.

 _Fuck_ , she smelled good.

* * *

She hadn't stayed in the bedroom. They knew she wouldn't. But it was one thing to know… and another to _know_.

To know that that was her in the bathroom, the sounds of running water, the silence… the little breathless moans, the sharp, inward gasp as she—

Taj had to hold Kylo back as they heard her come.

He didn't even stop to acknowledge the fact that the other man was holding _him_ back as well.

* * *

It finally dawned on her to check the ship; to see if she could find a way off of this damned planet. To find a way out of her prison.

She made her way out of the small window in the bathroom and then made her way slowly, carefully, towards the ship.

And then made her way back, desolate, angry, and so _so_ tired, when she found that parts of the engine had been dismantled.

It seemed they knew her _too_ well.

She fell face-first onto the bed once she arrived back inside, not even caring if she was heard. She didn't care. She didn't even have enough energy to push off the heat and fog holding her body and mind hostage, let alone the energy to push back her disappointment and frustration.

Rey was becoming well-acquainted with frustration.

* * *

They left her food at periodic intervals, but refused to confront the woman when the plates remained untouched.

They couldn't let themselves get near her, out of fear—Maker-forsaken _fear_ of all things—that they would hurt her, ruin her, _sully_ her… _take_ her without her permission.

That was a line they would _never_ cross, for all their other admitted acts of war.

The water, at least, was always returned empty.

It satisfied the alphas… somewhat.

* * *

"What do we do?" Kylo asked, his voice practically stuck on a growl.

They were losing themselves, little by little.

As was she.

"I don't know," Hux replied breathily.

A pause. "We can't just keep her here like this."

"And yet we can't bring her with us, either. You know what would happen."

Silence.

Finally, minutes later, "I know."

"What does your precious Force tell you?"

Kylo hummed, drawing his bottom lip between his teeth. If they hadn't _just_ slaked their thirst on each other, Hux would have pounced. Instead, he closed his eyes and waited until Kylo next spoke.

"It says to wait," the other man said slowly.

"Then we wait."

* * *

Rey smelled them. It was torturous, because she couldn't _escape_ it. Their combined scent was everywhere, permeating everything in the small cabin, and the first morning, after, when they had… _that_ , it had only seemed worse from that moment on.

She wasn't sure if they were doing it on purpose or not, but she hadn't been in the same room as them since that first time she'd woken. She knew she should feel grateful, but for some reason, the space was… disquieting.

They were not acting in any way like she had expected them to, especially once her heat had set in. None of them had acknowledged that's what was happening, but… well, she knew they knew. And she knew that they knew… she knew.

She sighed at herself for being so ridiculous, but the breath out turned into a shaky exhale in as her nose picked up one of them placing food outside of the open bedroom doorway. She couldn't see who it was, but she could see their shadow, and even the mere sight of _that_ was enough to set her mind to spinning, her hormones whirling, her body buzzing with want, with need, with _fire_.

None of which was helped by her mind being dragged back to its earlier thoughts—they were not at all what she had expected, and she had zero idea what to do with that knowledge. They weren't taking her, forcing her, pushing themselves upon her even though she _knew_ that they desired her. She could _hear_ them. Could hear their whispers, or at least most of them, and knew that they were just as attuned to her and her body as she was to them and theirs. To both of theirs.

 _Fuck_ her.

Oh, that was the problem, alright.

She wanted them, and she wanted them _badly_ , and she wasn't sure what was her body's need, what was her mind reacting to the intrigue they presented her with, what were _Kylo's_ memories and thoughts influencing her, and what was… well, whatever else that left her with.

Her brain was scattered, becoming worse as they entered the last bit of the third day after entering her heat, a not-so-pleasant fog starting to settle itself over her senses, in turns sharpening them, and then dulling them.

She was finding it increasingly harder to _think_ , let alone make decisions, but she desperately held onto every shred of awareness she had, trying to tame her thoughts into some semblance of order so that she could figure out what she should _do_.

Because she had to decide, and quick.

Her heat was, from what she could gather from her recollection of the old women teaching her back on Jakku, entering its pinnacle, and it would _stay there_ , all thanks to the two alphas who were pacing a hole into the floor of the other room—she could hear them, why could she _hear_ every single step, it was _agony_. Their scents had triggered what would have otherwise been a slow, incessant burn… but one that would have lasted months without outside interference from an unmated alpha's scent.

The men may be mated to each other in spirit, but biology was another matter, and her body more than responded to them.

And she was quickly running out of time.

She could feel it. She could feel it in her bones, in the _Force_. She knew she would reach a time soon when she would be incapable of making logical decisions—if she was even making them now, she mused distractedly—and where she would have to act or die, because she was long past the point of being able to leave this system if she was to have a better than average chance at survival.

And _survive_ is what she always did.

There was no one here that she could hurt, and she knew that the alphas wouldn't be able to hurt her while she was in heat—not if they didn't want to fight millennia of ingrained instinct.

And she knew they wanted her.

She had seen it, in Kylo's mind. In the brief flashes she now knew came from him, when his shields came down—and they were down with increasing frequency, of late.

Rey could _use_ them, and let them use _her_ —and then steal away in the aftermath. After fixing the ship, of course. But there would be enough time. She wouldn't be getting away from the planet otherwise, not unless she wanted to leave it in First Order custody, at least—and she ignored the thrill that coursed down her spine at the thought of that very thing.

Corralling her responses back, little by little, Rey tilted her head in thought. Omegas always recovered first after heat and rut, alpha men using themselves up to the point of complete exhaustion, from what she could recall. Alphas protected the omega during heat, and omegas protected the alphas in the aftermath, until they were able to recover properly.

A little evening of the playing field, if you will.

She could use that.

It was enough of an opening, if she played her cards right.

She'd worked with less.

Rey firmed her resolve, making sure she was okay with what she planned to do—

—and ignored the part of her that _gloried_ at what was to come. The part of her that wanted to be _used_ as much as _she_ wished to use.

* * *

She slept on it, just to be sure, and it took everything in her not to go to them in the middle of the night when she heard them, skin against skin.

When she _smelled_ them.

When she could _feel_ them move.

But she had to be sure. She had to know that this was what she wanted, that this was her highest chance of survival without turning her back on everything that she was, everything she believed in.

So she gritted her teeth, and cleared the fog from her mind as best she could through meditation, using every skill she'd learned over the last year just to hold onto that slim edge of _sanity_.

And—most important of all—she asked the Force if this was what she should do; if this was the right course; if she was betraying it, in some irrefutable way, with her choice to give in and to use, in turn.

But she wasn't, she could tell, as the Force sang to her, lulling her into as close to a peaceful frame of mind as she could in the circumstances.

The Force wrapped her up, surrounding her, pushing away the hunger and the fever and the near-manic edge that her thoughts had gained in the last few hours.

In the morning, she stood up, bracing her shaking legs as best she could, and let the feeling of peace wash over her once again as she made her way towards the door. She followed the sounds of their voices until she caught sight of them, sitting beneath the trees on the edge of the forest, a short distance from the cabin's main door.

They were wrapped around each other, legs tangled as they leaned against a large trunk, and Rey was able to observe them for a few moments, their smiles warming her…

…until the wind shifted and the warmth disappeared, heat blazing a trail from her nostrils and down her body, suffusing everything— _everything_ —as she caught their scents and breathed them deep.

And that was when the Force gave way to a more powerful drive—

— _heat_ and _thirst_ and _hunger_ and _sex_ and _basic instinct_.

Rey's whole being devolved into a single thought; a single, powerful, all-consuming urge of which she had no idea had been lurking below the surface:

 _The hunt_.


	4. A loving message from Juulna

Hello to all of my Star Wars readers, Juulna here, with lots of love and hugs, first and foremost.

I know this isn't the update you wanted it to be, and I'm sorry for that. I know you've all waited a long, _long_ time for an update—many of you for _over a year_ —and so I wanted to come here and use what is normally reserved for chapter updates, what is normally frowned upon for author updates (but really, there is no better way to reach all of you, my apologies, dear friends), to tell you why there hasn't been one in so _very_ long… and why there won't be one in the foreseeable future.

On Tumblr I recently received an ask wondering if I was going to be continuing one of my stories. I answered it at the time, about a month ago, but since then the answer has been on the edge of my thoughts. It made me realize that I really do need to let you, faithful readers old and new alike (who aren't tapped into my Tumblr), know that I just… well, I can't write Star Wars at the moment. It doesn't really even matter what ship.

And you really should know _why_.

I've attempted to start writing again, and even had that brief period late last summer where I was lucky enough to begin _I'd start a war for you_ , in fact, and was able to write some other updates for other stories as well. But it soon became clear to me that I was riding the high of literally just leaving my husband. It didn't last for long, as soon reality came sweeping back in, and I was no longer able to hide from the immense trauma that had been caused to my psyche and heart.

Many of you know, but many don't, that there are a lot of really awful memories tied up with Star Wars and my abusive ex-husband (likely hacked and removed my work from AO3, slutshamed me for shipping and writing fic, the list goes on…), as well as with me and the Star Wars fandom and being cyberbullied, both of which contributed to the massive decline in my health, which continues to be an ongoing struggle filled with regular physiotherapy and doctor's visits, constant pain, and sleep that is never restful.

All of that, all of this, got tied up into a rather unpleasant knot inside of me, and it's one I'm still struggling desperately to undo, but I think there's irreparable damage that's been done, outside and inside, and I'll never be able to fully recover. Every time I _think_ of Star Wars it causes problems and, well, that in itself is a problem, but I can enjoy it as a fan on Tumblr in a way that I just can't even possibly hope to touch on as a writer currently. But I can change trajectory, and thus me starting to write in the Marvel fandom, as there is nothing but happiness and passion there for me, and it's filled with _beautiful_ and _loving_ people and memories (well, so far! *knocks on wood*) and even if I'm struggling creatively and physically, it's a safe haven for me in a way that… well, in a way that Star Wars can't be right now.

I may be able to write Star Wars again (I was able to write a little oneshot post-TLJ but even that left a terrible feeling inside me and reaffirmed to me I wasn't ready for more) but it isn't right now. However, I _can_ say that although some of the comments I've been getting, wondering when I'm going to update, are rude, the others I'm getting on these old, unfinished fics… are actually sorting of stoking the fire again. So it's been a good thing for me, healing in a way (comments always make me happy, even if I'm not going to finish the fic!), and I hope that perhaps someday sooner than I thought, I might be able to feel comfortable enough to write Star Wars again. But not _soon_ soon. And maybe not _ever_. Thus… well, thus this message.

But… there is still that spark of hope in me, because these are my _babies_. I love these stories more than you can possibly know, and the fact that they've been so irrevocably ruined and tainted for me, twisted by a man whom I once loved, who I trusted, and by others who made me feel unsafe in a place that had become like a second home… it breaks my heart, to be cliché. To be fricking dramatic, honestly. But really, these stories meant… _mean_ so much to me, even still. And it hurts me _so much_ , not to be able to finish them. But I can't write one word without wanting to start crying right now, and that's going to take a long time to heal from.

Yes, I know, "don't let him take this from you," is something I've heard time and again, and it's something I've told myself many times, and I haven't. Not really. I reposted my stories when he didn't want me to. I started writing again, new stories and updates, before and after I left him, and I've fought tooth and nail for what I have right now. For where I am. But I also need to do what is healthy for me mentally. There is being strong, and then there is being _too strong_ , pushing yourself past the shattering point, not knowing when to stop. Right now I need to stop. Need to heal. Then... well, then I'll re-evaluate. See what I can do. See how strong I am, what I can handle. I know I'm strong, that's not the question... but, well... mental health is a tricky bitch, eh?

At least the bastard's finally gone. July 4th, 2017, separated. December 22nd, 2017, divorced. Thank God. And thank you, _every single one of you_ , whether you knew you were doing it or not (simply giving me a kudos, or a comment/review, or a fav/follow/subscription was showing me more love than you know during all of this darkness), for standing by me.

But truly.

 _Truly_.

I understand your frustration, and it makes me really sad and upset, too, believe me—for _you_ as my reader.

Because I get it. Lord, do I ever. I'm a reader, too, right? Or did you forget? ;) But really… how many times have I read a WiP and then it just… never gets updated? It makes me so sad to have to do that here, at least as it stands right now. I know I always a) wondered what happened next in the story… but also b) wondered if the author was okay.

So here I am giving you my answer to (B)— I _am_ okay, and will be okay, I promise. ^_^

 **And (A)… if you** _ **really,**_ _ **really**_ **want to know what happens in the rest of whichever story it is you're reading, you can come poke me on Tumblr on the handle 'juuls'.**

I do, at least, have a couple of oneshots, drabbles and ficlets that are complete, as well as one complete multi-chapter Reylo fic called Delicious Ambiguity, if you haven't read it already. I hope that that can sate at least some of you. :P

I know that this was a really long message, and I thank any and all of you who gave this a read. Truly, I appreciate it. I wanted to give you all nothing but the truth and, honestly, I've been putting this announcement off for quite a while, scared to tell you, my readers, about what I see as a failure—even if it isn't.

It's cathartic in a way.

 _Thank you for listening._

With all my love,  
Meaghan


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